


Meeting

by Poplitealqueen



Series: Frisson [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Darth Serenus, Fanart, Ficlet, Frisson AU, Gen, Qui-Gon Lives, Sith Qui-Gon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 21:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9403655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poplitealqueen/pseuds/Poplitealqueen
Summary: Serenus meets his grand-padawan, Ahsoka Tano, for the first time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Heya all and sundry!
> 
> I decided it was high-time I started organizing this damn AU. This is originally a ficlet I posted over on my Tumblr, hopefully the first of many (if I can actually _find_ the rest. I'm not the most... organized person).
> 
> Thanks for reading, reviewing, aaaaand most of all. Can you guess? Enjoying! That's right!
> 
> -Miss Pop
> 
> PS: Even if you don't read the fic, definitely stop and stare at the nice piece of fanart I was given for it. It's pretty, come oooooon.

Ahsoka doesn’t understand why Sith have to be so tall. First there’s Grievous, though technically he _isn’t_ a Sith, just a Seperatist. According to Barriss, at least. Ahsoka has learned firsthand that arguing semantics with that particular Mirilian is like trying to brush your teeth with a lightsaber, but she counts him anyway.

Then there's Count Dooku. Ahsoka has seen him close enough to verify what information she could pull up in the Temple Archives (and from Master Nu’s startling knowledge of the Sith Lord’s anatomy), and, yes. He is indeed nearly _200 cm tall!_

At least Ventress is a reasonable height.

Then there's this new guy, the one that made Anakin look like a reasonable, cautious fellow compared to Master Obi-Wan whenever this new Sith is sighted. Ahsoka has no doubts that Lord Serenus is a very tall man.

Ahsoka never thought Master Obi-Wan could get so emotional; the man is like durasteel. It scares her to see the way he loses his cool the moment intelligence reports ‘Jinn’ on the battlefield, but she knows it scares Anakin more. She can sense it along their bond, along with a confused sort of joy.

Ahsoka grew up on stories in the crèche of Master Qui-Gon Jinn, the legendary maverick Jedi that had left the Order after surviving a battle with a Sith Lord. He sounded like an amazing, noble man. (She could even recall, if she thought hard enough, that he had visited the Temple Nursery once. She couldn’t have been more than three standard at the time, but his presence in the Force had been light and laughter and _life_.) How could someone like that turn to the Dark Side?

He had to have been forced. She agrees with Anakin, after they’ve had some time to discuss it. Anakin had needed to talk, but they’d been stuck in the same campaign on the same planet for nearly three weeks and he couldn’t contact Senator Amidala, and Master Obi-Wan shut down and mumbled some excuse whenever the subject was brought up to him.

Anakin had settled for her, and she hadn’t minded. The fact that he trusted her enough to tell her things like that made Ahsoka happy in ways the Council probably wouldn’t condone. He thought that Master Jinn had been tortured, _forced_ to join the Dark Side. That the man he’d known would never turn willingly.

He’d had such conviction in his tone and look that Ahsoka had begun to believe it herself, even though she’d never met this new, Sithly version of the man in battle.

Anakin had met him, once or twice, and so had Master Obi-Wan. Multiple times. It was almost like Jinn knew _exactly_ where he would be; like he was following Master Obi-Wan. That would explain his general disdain on the subject. If a Sith Lord that had formally been her Master was stalking her, Ahsoka wouldn’t care to talk about it either.

Ahsoka didn’t think she would ever meet Qui-Gon Jinn. Until now.

And her assumptions and research into him hadn’t been wrong. He is _kriffing_ tall.

She doesn't see the droid that detonated near her, but the blast throws her back so hard she assumes it had to have been close.

She smacks into a rock wall, and knows she’s broken a few things almost instantly, and then the ground she lands on had starts to crack and she's sliding, then _falling,_ down a dark crevice to her most certain doom. She’d drops her lightsabers Force-knows-where, and everything is dust and rock and screaming. She has nothing to grab onto (and with one wrist broken and a shoulder dislocated, she doubts she would have been able to hold her own weight). Her connection to the Force has been doing intricate, sasheying moves. She’s probably hit her head.

Ahsoka is coherent enough to know that she was probably going to die.

So when her body stops midair, and begins to float back _up_ , she's sure she's hallucinating.

Then when she lands in strong arms, and looks up to find herself staring up at Sith yellow eyes, she's definitely sure she's hallucinating.

She kicks anyway, and it's a good kick, too.

“Easy now, little one, easy. I won’t hurt you.” the voice is a deep rumble, soft where all the other Sith she had met were hard and harsh. Ahsoka gasps in pain when she is lowered carefully to the ground, and when two large hands gently take her wrist between them, she lets out a sharp cry and kicks again.

“Shhh.” The murmur is accompanied by a rush of Force healing, mending the wound. Ahsoka feels it wind through other parts of her body as well, until what had felt like one giant bruise a moment before now feels…normal.

The Sith leans back, still kneeling beside her, and waits for her to sit up on her own. Ahsoka does and her head pulses painfully.

“Ah, hells…” she clutches at her temple, gritting her teeth until her vision stops wavering.

She feels a little peak of joy in the Force beside her, and turns to get a good look at the Sith that had rescued her.

For all that his eyes are sickly, venom-yellow with near-white centers around the pupil, the man looks kind. His hair is long and mostly brown, falling around his face in straight waves, while his mustache and goatee are peppered with more grey. Ahsoka recognizes him from the holorecords. Qui-Gon Jinn. He doesn't look half as old as he should.

The joy - closer to affection, more like - spikes again, and Qui-Gon Jinn smiles down at her.

“That’s a rather rude thing to think. I’m not that old.”

Ahsoka doesn’t answer, bolstering up her mental shields that she had stupidly let down. She puts on the best glare she possibly can and looks the older man straight in the eye.

“I won’t be your prisoner.”

Qui-Gon brings a hand up to push some hair out of his face, and the back of his palm and along his knuckles are decorated with the severe shape of Sith tattoos.

“I didn’t expect you to be.”

Ahsoka scowls. “Then why did you save me?” she snaps.

Qui-Gon Jinn rises an eyebrow at her. “I couldn’t just allow my Great-Grand Padawan to fall to her death, Ahsoka.”

Ahsoka feels herself tense. “How do you know my name, _Jinn.”_

“The same reason you know my old one, I suppose. I researched, and Obi-Wan told me,” Qui-Gon tilts his head, long hair cascading down one shoulder. “Ahsoka Tano, Commander of an army at only fourteen standard. That’s quite the feat.”

Ahsoka feels blood rush to her face at the unexpected compliment, and turns her head away.

“Qui-Gon Jinn, legendary Jedi Master turned Sith Lord. _That’s_ more of a feat then a kid chasing after battledroids as _part_ of an army.” she counters.

She hears a laugh, a deep, booming one that warms her heart just by hearing it.

“I can see why Yoda chose you for Anakin.”

Ahsoka glares at her knees. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You two are alike. It’s a compliment.” There is a pause, and then fingers are holding her chin and turning her back to face him.

Qui-Gon’s eyes are the only truly terrifying part about him. Ahsoka can’t stand to look at them for too long, but she's held in place.

“I would enjoy nothing more than to stay and talk with you more, Ahsoka, but I really need to get going. And you really need _rest._ ”

 _Rest, rest, rest_ …the sleep suggestion is powerful. Ahsoka’s eyelids suddenly feel too heavy to keep up,and her body goes limp. Qui-Gon lowers her head gently to the bedrock and stands. The shadows darken everything except for the bewitching light of his eyes. They look like a pair of stars from so high up.

“It was very nice to meet you, Ahsoka.”

[Art by ozzy698](http://ozzy698.tumblr.com/)

~

She's woken up sometime later by Kix and a squad of other Clone medics combing the battlefield. He shouts for Anakin and Master Obi-Wan, saying that he’s found her. Ahsoka is safe.

Anakin runs over and pulls her into a hug, while Master Obi-Wan stands above her, a worried smile stretching his face.

Her lightsabers are lined up neatly beside her.

**Author's Note:**

> Curious to see what the future holds for Frisson? Don't mind a few spoilers? Then check on my [Frisson AU Masterlist](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xpwtKD9dAhQEt4B7goP8q9_x7Zel1Ve1D01l1XPJk6E/edit?usp=sharing). The paint is still a bit wet, so expect additions and slight changes over time.
> 
> And, like I said, mind your step. Here there be spoilers.


End file.
